


Closer

by SeafoamSoul



Category: Professional Wrestling, World Wrestling Entertainment
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-17
Updated: 2018-12-17
Packaged: 2019-09-21 02:03:35
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,522
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17034364
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SeafoamSoul/pseuds/SeafoamSoul
Summary: Braun finds out karma is a bitch and will come around to bite you in the ass. Technically a sequel to Too Close, if what you're looking for is a happy ending.





	Closer

The pounding on my front door tore me out of my sleep, reaching for my phone to check the time. 2:30 am. And someone was at my door. I couldn’t even think why anyone would be here, at my apartment, this late at night. I decided to pretend it didn’t happen, hoping the person would go away.

They didn’t.

The pounding continued, and I sighed, swinging my legs out of bed and walking to the door. I wrenched the door open, ready to light into whoever decided to bother me. But I couldn’t say anything, couldn’t even move when I saw who was standing on the other side of my door. Braun Strowman.

He was drunk, obviously. His body sagging against the doorframe, eyes rimmed red. His hair was a mess, hat sitting awkwardly on his head.

“Braun?” I finally managed to choke out, staring at him.

“I’m sorry,” he said, voice cracking. “I’m so sorry.”

The two words I wanted to hear from Braun months ago, 9 months ago, to be exact. When he broke up with me for no reason. The two words I said to him 3 months ago, when I went to see him and found him with his new girlfriend. And now he was here. At my door. Telling me he was sorry.

Of course, it was a little too late for that. I had finally, finally gotten over him.

“What are you doing here Braun?” I asked.

“I needed a place to go,” he replied. His voice was small, he was small. This almost seven foot tall man looked so small to me.

“Why?” I still hadn’t moved from the doorframe. Braun, however, had slowly begun slinking forward.

“Can I come in?” he sighed, scrubbing his hand over his face.

“Braun, I don’t think that’s a good idea,” I told him, still blocking the entry.

“Please. I…Have nowhere else to go.” He looked so defeated and sad, weariness etched all over his face. And I couldn’t say no to him. Who knows where he would go, what he would do if I didn’t let him in.

“Fine. You know where the couch is,” I sighed, defeated. I stepped aside, allowing Braun to stumble past me. My eyes followed him down the hallway and as he took the turn to the living room. I took a deep breath, preparing myself to deal with Braun.

Walking into the living room, I saw Braun already passed out on the couch, all sprawled out, hat lying on the ground. I grabbed his hat, placing it on the coffee table in front of the couch before grabbing a blanket and tossing it over him. I afforded him one last glance before going back to bed, closing the door behind me. I never would have thought I would see Braun of all people at my door this late. I never would have thought I’d see Braun at my door at all again. But he just had to ruin my expectations.

=============================

I threw a bottle of Advil at Braun’s chest, watching as he jerked awake. “Take two. There’s water next to you,” I said simply before turning back to the kitchen.

I busied myself with the pan on the stove, flipping pancakes. Braun shuffled around in the living room for a while, the glass of water sliding across the table. I stiffened when he entered the kitchen, clearing his throat as he did.

“I, uh, thanks,” he said.

“Whatever,” I muttered, sliding pancakes out of the pan and onto a plate. I placed it on the island in the middle of the kitchen, gesturing towards them. “Might as well eat if you’re here.”

Braun’s eyes met mine for a split second before he sat down on a stool at the island, plate in front of him. I turned back to the stove, flipping more pancakes. The silence was deafening, tension thick in the air.

“She left me,” Braun said suddenly, fork clanging against his plate. I braced myself on the counter, shaking my head with a scoff. I didn’t really want to hear his sob story, didn’t really care. Or at least, that’s what I was telling myself. I had done so well, had finally moved on. And now here he was, seemingly trying to rewind every bit of progress I had made in the past three months. “For no reason.”

“Oh, so now you know how it feels, huh?” I spat, whirling away from the stove. “Now you know what it feels like for the person you love to drop you without a second glance, a second thought? And you thought it would be a good idea to come to the doorstep of the person you did the same thing to? And what, attempt to redeem yourself? You will get no pity from me.”

“I didn’t come here for your pity,” Braun explained, eyes wide at my sudden outburst.

“Then why the hell did you come here?” My voice was shrill, spatula in my hand raised in the air.

“I just needed to see you. You were the first person I thought about. I still care about you.” Braun stood from the island, moving closer to me.

“Don’t you dare,” I warned, holding the spatula out in front of me. “Don’t take one more step. How dare you? Tell me, where were these feelings three months ago when I showed up at your door? Where were they nine months ago when you left me in the middle of that living room for no reason?” Braun took a tentative step closer and I lost it. “No! Fuck you, Braun. Fuck you for coming here and expecting me to just fall at your feet. I have worked hard these past three months. My storyline at work is going well, I finally got over you, and I am doing great. Fuck you for trying to ruin that for me!”

“The, uh, pancakes,” Braun muttered, pointing behind me.

I turned, looking at the smoke wafting from the pan, the blackened circles sitting sadly in the bottom of the pan. “Fuck these pancakes, too,” I snarled, tossing the pan into the sink.

“Can you just listen to me for a second?” Braun pleaded, eyes soft, still rimmed with red. “I do still care about you! It just took me a while to realize it.”

“You listen to me for a second, okay? I’m over it. I’m through. I’ve been fine for the past three months. I don’t need you waltzing back into my life because you feel guilty and ashamed because what you did to me happened to you. Just…Leave, Braun. I’m not doing this with you today. Or ever.” This whole conversation was exhausting and all I wanted to do was climb back into bed for the rest of the day, ready to leave for the road tomorrow.

Braun nodded, head hanging low as he moved towards the door. He paused right inside the doorframe, turning back to me. “I’ll see you tomorrow,” he said, not waiting for a reply before leaving. I listened for the front door to close behind him before finally letting go of the huge breath I wasn’t aware I had been holding. Just when I thought my life was finally getting back on track, here came Braun to ruin it. And I wasn’t even surprised.

=========================

“You left this,” I said, tossing Braun’s hat onto the table he was sitting at in catering. I had turned to leave when his hand caught my wrist, keeping me close.

“Can we please talk?” he begged, looking up at me.

“You can let me go,” I replied, yanking my hand from his grip.

“You have to let me explain. I do still care about you. Just listen to me for a second!” His voice got louder and louder as he progressed, drawing all kinds of attention to us.

“We are at work,” I hissed, eyes darting around to see just how many people were looking at us. “I am not talking about this with you here. Just take your stupid fucking hat and leave me alone.” Twirling on my heel, I stomped away, off to find myself a quiet corner in some random hallway to take a breather.

Of course, that never quite works out. Not when you have friends like Nia and Sasha around.

“What was that about?” Nia asked, sitting next to me in the hallway.

“He came over the night before last in the middle of the night, drunk as hell. I let him sleep on the couch because he said he had nowhere else to go. The next morning he told me his girlfriend left him, that he still cared about me,” I explained, running a hand through my hair. I had been replaying the events from that morning ever since it happened. To think that four months ago, I was hoping for him to tell me he cared about me still, knowing now that he said he did made me sick. He was too late. Right?

“Do you believe him? Did he say anything else to try to convince you?” Nia’s voice was laced with concern, brows knitted together.

“He didn’t say anything else because I didn’t let him. And I don’t know if I believe him or not. I…I was finally over him, ya know? And I was doing so well. I don’t wanna let this ruin that for me,” I huffed, picking at some lint on my pants.

“You said ‘was,’” Nia pointed out gently.

“What?” I asked, turning my head to face her.

“You said ‘I was finally over him,’” she repeated, worry creasing her face. “You said was.”

“You know what I meant,” I waved her off, laughing humorlessly.

“No I don’t. And I don’t think you do either.” I hated that Nia was so wise, so full of life advice and knowledge. “I think maybe you should listen to him. Just…Let him explain, see what information you get from him.” At the look on my face, she was quick to clarify. “I don’t mean take him back, trust me. I know how badly he hurt you. But…Just listen. You might be surprised at what he has to say.”

“I hate you,” I pouted, resting my head back against the wall.

“No you don’t,” Nia replied, wrapping an arm around my shoulders to give me a hug. And then she was gone, leaving me with my thoughts.

============================

“You have 30 minutes to explain. That’s all. Nothing more,” I said when Braun opened his hotel room door. He was silent, mouth agape as we stood there staring at each other. “Your time started the second you opened the door, buddy. So if I were you, I’d get to talking,” I shrugged, storming past him into the room.

“I don’t know where to start,” he admitted, not moving away from the door.

I sat down on the couch, gaze icy. “The beginning would be nice. Say, about nine months ago?”

Braun sighed, sitting across from me on a chair. “I, uh. I loved you, you know,” he began. I scoffed and he narrowed his eyes at me, looking hurt. “I did. I loved you. And everything was fine for a long time. I was happy, you were happy. But I don’t think people said the same things to you as they said to me.”

“What did they say to you?” I asked, cocking my head to the side.

“It’s obvious the two of us don’t make the most sensible couple, look-wise,” Braun admitted.

“Didn’t,” I corrected quickly, ignoring the pained look on his face.

“We…Didn’t make the most sensible couple. No one expected us to get together. And for a while it was okay. But then people started whispering. About why you stooped so low to be with me, about how we must have been using each other. And I know you weren’t, I know. But hearing it all the time…It got stressful. And then I got that big push and I loved it and you seemed so proud but it just added to the stress and then the whisperings got louder,” he trailed off, shaking his head. He was silent for a moment before catching my gaze. “Have you ever been so stressed and tired that you didn’t think you could keep juggling everything?”

“All the time,” I replied honestly.

“That’s what happened. I was struggling and you were doing so well. I didn’t want to stress you out with my problems,” Braun admitted.

“So instead of talking it out like a grown ass man, you just left? You didn’t explain yourself to me at all, Braun! I was convinced I did something wrong!” I told myself I had to be calm during this conversation, but I couldn’t. Not hearing him say this.

“I know!” Braun exploded off the chair, pacing in front of me. “I know that,” he muttered. His pacing continued for a while, muttering to himself. He finally stopped, turning to face me again. “I spent those six months we were broken up trying to move on as fast as possible. Thought it would make it easier on you.”

“It didn’t,” I cut in dryly.

“I figured that out when you came to my door that night. When I saw your face, it killed me. But I had already made such progress, tricked myself into thinking I didn’t care about you. And then I had…her. And I was convinced we were in love,” Braun explained, finally falling into his chair again.

“And so what, you figured when that was over showing up at my door to start the cycle over would be a good idea?” I asked. “Did you think that would fix everything?”

“I just needed somewhere to go. She left me. She was using me to get another guy and when she got him, she left. With no explanation. So I went out, got a little drunk, and the only person I could think about was you.” Braun’s eyes were soft, pleading. He looked miserable.

“Well, your 30 minutes is up,” I alerted him, standing from my space on the couch.

“Are you not gonna say anything back?” He sounded hurt, just as hurt as I felt all those months ago, and it made me feel…weird. I didn’t like seeing him hurt. I hated it. But I thought I was over him, finally. Thought all my feelings were in the past. He was making it hard for them to stay there, though, with his pouty face and worried eyes.

“I have to think about some things,” was all I could say in return, moving for the door to his hotel.

“Can I, um, text you later?” he asked tentatively from his seat.

“You can try. I won’t guarantee an answer. I can’t,” I said simply, leaving him behind me.

When I made it back to my room, I threw myself face first onto the bed, letting the stress leave my body. My thoughts were swirling in my mind, none of them slowing down enough for me to process them individually. And then my phone vibrated by my side.

‘I do still care about you, that wasn’t a lie. Have a good night.’

Having a good night was damn near impossible now.

=======================

Over the course of the next three months, Braun was slowly sidling his way back into my life. He found a new apartment in my complex, four buildings down. When I saw him backstage at events, he would at least try to have a conversation with me. There was less tension in the air when we saw each other in the Performance Center. Everything was in a weird lull of ‘normal’ that I wasn’t quite sure how to handle.

Nia, of course, had plenty of advice.

“Maybe you two just need to spend some time alone together, really get the weirdly normal feeling out so it’ll just be normal,” she offered, sipping her coffee.

“Or I could not spend any alone time with him ever,” I shrugged, shooting her a sarcastic smile.

“Fine,” she conceded, sliding her coffee cup around the table. “Then I guess it’ll always be as weird as it is righttttt now.”

I cocked an eyebrow at her, wondering what she meant when a shadow fell over the table. Braun. He looked down at the both of us, large coffee looking incredibly small in his hand. “Hey.”

“Hey, Braun,” Nia greeted, eyes cutting to me.

“Hello,” I said, busying myself with my cup once more.

It was silent, awkward as we all sat there, Nia’s eyes pleading with me to say something. I couldn’t, or rather, I wouldn’t, instead forcing Braun to break the silence.

“I just, uh. I guess I’ll see you guys later,” he said, giving a small wave before leaving the coffee shop.

“This is why you have to spend some time with him,” Nia told me as soon as he was gone. “That shit was awkward.”

“You don’t understand just how much I cannot do that,” I replied, sighing. “I was over him, okay? And I was doing fine. But ever since he showed up at my door that night, it’s been different. It’s been three months. And I…I don’t know. I don’t think I’m as over him as I thought I was.”

“Oh, no,” Nia groaned, dropping her head into her hands.

“Now do you understand?” I whined.

=========================

“Braun, I um. Can I come in?” I asked, fidgeting outside his apartment door two months later.

He looked shocked, eyes wide. He had obviously just woken up, greeting me at the door dressed in just some gym shorts, chest bare. My eyes fell to his nipple piercings, the ones he wondered about getting for the longest time before dragging me with him to get them done. I loved them then and, seeing them up close again for the first time in a little over a year was driving me crazy. Crazier than I already felt, that is.

“Yeah, sure, what’s up?” he asked, leading me to his kitchen.

I wanted to tell him, tell him everything that was threatening to boil over. The feelings I thought I had gotten rid of all that time ago. But after spending more and more time with him, slowly becoming friends with him again…It didn’t take me too long to find out that those feelings weren’t gone. Not completely. And then they started to grow. Until here I was, a complete mess. Again, all thanks to Braun.

“I don’t know how to say this,” I told him, stopping in front of the counter to turn to face him.

“Say what?” He looked nervous, the look I got used to seeing on his face when we were near each other. Even though we were finally friends again, the nervousness never left him.

“I don’t think I can keep being your friend,” I said, immediately regretting it. There was a better way to word this, and I knew he would freak out.

And he didn’t disappoint.

“What do you mean? I thought we were finally normal,” he asked, panic in his voice.

“Braun, I’m sorry, I’m sorry. That sounded terrible,” I sighed, leaning back against the counter.

“Because it is terrible. You don’t want to be friends anymore? Why? What did I do?” He was firing his questions off so fast, I could barely keep up.

“Okay, just listen to me. I didn’t get to finish,” I said, raising my hands to calm him. “Let me finish and then you can react however you want.” When he nodded, sinking onto a chair at the table, I continued. “I can’t be your friend anymore,” I began again, speeding up to add the rest of my sentence at the crazed look in his eyes. “At least, not just your friend.”

“What?” Braun looked just as confused as I felt, words I wanted to say swirling around in my brain without forming the right sentences.

“You make it impossible not to love you, you asshole,” I spat, exasperated.

“So-” he began, head cocked to the side.

“So I love you and I hate you because of it. You make it impossible for me not to fall in love with you all over again.” I closed my eyes, shaking my head as I finally admitted it to him. I was in love with him.

I tried really hard not to be, of course. I couldn’t just write off what he had done. But it was so long ago, a year ago, and he had changed so much since then. And our friendship was easygoing, I was glad to have him in my life again. But then these feelings that had always been scratching underneath the surface boiled over. I couldn’t keep kicking them under the rug, it was eating away at me. This morning when I woke up, I felt like I was going to explode. I had to come see Braun first thing, let him know how I felt. And now I was sure he was going to laugh in my face, kicking me out.

“Are you gonna say anything?” I asked, eyes still closed. I opened them when I was met with more silence, gasping when I came face to face with Braun, mere inches away from me.

“Say it again, please,” he whispered, hands falling to my waist.

“I love you,” I whispered in reply, heart jumping at the look in his eyes when I said it. He was finally happy, content, and the smile on his face was out of the world. That goofy smile I loved so long ago, the one I thought about for so long. Here it was, back again.

“I’ve wanted to hear you say that for a while,” Braun laughed before pressing his lips to mine. His kiss was hard and insistent, his teeth nipping at my bottom lip before his tongue collided with mine. I moaned, hands draping over his shoulders. I had missed this, missed him like this, for more than a year. To have it back, now? It was all I could’ve asked for.

His arms wrapped around me tighter and then I was up, sitting on the counter, the kiss never once breaking. Braun stepped even closer to me, moving to stand between legs. The kiss was harder now, desperate as Braun’s teeth clashed with mine, hands roaming along my torso.

I finally broke the kiss, mouth traveling down to the spot I know he loved to be nipped at, right under his jaw. I bit down gently, my tongue laving over the spot right after and he moaned above me, the sound reverberating through my body, making me feel strangely giddy. I concentrated my mouth on that one spot, sucking and nipping as his hands ripped at my tank top. It fell to pieces around us, Braun’s hands immediately moving to knead the flesh of my breasts.

“That was my shirt,” I whined, arching my back, pressing my breasts into his hands.

“I’ll give you a new one,” he promised, crushing our lips together again. I sighed in content, deepening the kiss. One of my hands went up to his right nipple, tracing over the silver barbell settled there. I felt more than heard his breath hitch, my other hand tugging on his shorts.

Braun groaned as my hand slid into his shorts, fingers ghosting over his cock. He pulled me off the counter, hands gripping my ass as he pressed me up against the wall, my legs wrapped around his waist.

“Braun, please,” I begged, grinding my hips against his. He shuddered, hands yanking on my own shorts, stepping back to pull them completely off of me before pressing me back against the wall. Now when I ground against him, it was just my bare heat running over his bulge, not at all hidden by the shorts on his legs.

I whined, pushing the waistband down as Braun busied his mouth with my neck and shoulder, leaving soft bites as he went. He took pause to help me remove his shorts, catching my eye when we were both naked, pressed against each other.

“Are you sure you want this?” he asked, eyes studying my face.

“Yes, please,” I begged, brushing my wet heat across his shaft, savoring the look on his face. His grip tightened on my hips and I locked my ankles around his waist as he pushed into me, pressing me harder into the wall.

“Fuck, I missed you,” Braun murmured against the hollow of my throat, taking a moment to let me adjust to the sheer size of him.

“I missed you, too,” I breathed, circling my hips to convince him to move.

And move he did, his hips hammering into mine harshly. Just the way I liked it. As he thrust into me, I could hear his neighbor yelling at us through the wall and I laughed, coaxing him to move faster. Soon Braun was pounding away into me, my back scraping against the wall. I dug my nails into his shoulder, throwing my head back. The noises coming from my mouth didn’t even sound like me, not to my ears, as Braun kept up his brutal pace.

When one of Braun’s hands fell to my clit, pressing softly, I gasped, muscles contracting around him. “Come for me, baby, please,” he murmured, voice strained.

His thumb pressed down even harder, the circles he was tracing over my clit passing even faster. I came with a shout, nails digging into his skin, hips jerking against his. Braun was right behind me, hips slowing to a halt as he came, pressing his forehead to mine.

“Tell me again,” he requested, voice low as we waited for our breathing to slow down.

“I love you,” I smiled, body still wound around his.

“I love you, too,” Braun replied, leaning in to kiss me again. This kiss was more gentle, less hurried, as he pulled out of me, ignoring my whine of displeasure. He set me down on my feet with one last kiss to my lips before leading me through his apartment to the living room. He sat, pulling me onto his lap while his mouth traveled along my collarbone.

“Braun,” I giggled, his beard brushing my sensitive skin. “What are you doing?”

“We have a lot of making up to do, baby. And I’m not letting you go this time,” Braun replied honestly, pulling me closer to him. “Never again,” he promised, directing my gaze to his.

“Never,” I agreed, smiling up at him.

===============================

He must have really meant it, because six months later in the middle of the ring at Raw, he proposed. ‘Ringception’ he had joked as he slid the ring on my finger, smile splitting his face nearly in half.

And to think, a year and a half ago he was too close, or so I thought. And now? Now he’s closer than before, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.


End file.
